Entries tagged with: Macklemore

Q-Tip leading protests in Times Square last night (photo via @alphajada)

Last night it was announced that the grand jury decided not to indict Ferguson, MO police Officer Darren Wilson in the August shooting and death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. Protests sprung up all over the country. In NYC, Q-Tip lead protests in Times Square chanting "Whose streets? Our Streets!" and "Don't shoot! Hands Up!" Instagram videos of him in Times Square can be watched below.

Meanwhile, much much closer to the center of the story, Run the Jewels were performing in St. Louis, Missouri. Killer Mike, who sang about the police "terrorizing whoever, but mostly black boys" in his hyper-political song "Reagan," gave a moving, tearful speech during their set. "I knew it was coming...I knew it wasn't going to be good, but you motherfuckers got me today. You kicked me on my ass today, because I have a 20-year-old son, I have a 12-year-old son and I'm so afraid for them." You can watch it below.

Macklemore also took part in a protest in Ferguson, which Seattle King5 News has a clip of here.

Lots of other musicians expressed their feelings on social media. "I'm heartbroken over the news of no indictment in Ferguson. Let's all pray for peace," Pharrell Williamstweeted. Talib Kwelitweeted, "I feel really bad for the family of Mike Brown. To my brothers & sisters in Ferguson my heart is with you & I will join you soon."

Azealia Banks also went on a long Twitter rant about it, saying, "What makes it even worse is the fact that I sleep with white men..... LOL" and "I might have to kill one of these crackers in their sleep !!" but then "Lol, I'm joking." She also got more serious and said thingslike, "But something seriously has to be done about this shit. I don't want to hear about another unarmed black kid being shot by the damn cops. It's so discouraging, just as a young black person, to know that people like me can be murdered and have there be no real justice." Read many more of her tweets here.

Not every musician was against the ruling. Gun expert Ted Nugenttweeted, "DarrenWilson did good MichaelBrown did bad justice is served."

Video of Killer Mike's speech in St. Louis and Q-Tip in Times Square, below...

It's the 25th anniversary of Billboard's Hot Rap Songs chart, and FACT points to a list Billboard posted of the all-time top 100 rap tracks since the chart's inception. Seven of the top 10 tracks come from rap's "golden era" of the '90s, but very depressingly, Macklemore's "Thrift Shop" comes in at #1 OF ALL TIME. He's also got "Can't Hold Us" at #4. Kanye is tight.

The full 100 is at Billboard. Browse the top 10, along with a disclaimer of how the list was calculated, below...

And in other Beatles news, there had been talk, via Huffington Post, of Paul and Ringo reuniting at the Ed Sullivan Theater for a 'Late Show with David Letterman' episode to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first night the Beatles performed there, but a 'Late Show' rep said the show has no plans for a reunion at the moment, though confirmed that the show will recognize the anniversary.

New Year's Eve is quickly approaching, which means (among other things) that tons of people will stand out in the cold at Times Square for Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest. Musical performers at this year's celebration include NYC legends Blondie, along with Icona Pop, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Miley Cyrus. TV coverage begins at 8 PM on ABC. Full schedule for the night, below.

Rapper Angel Haze has still not announced a release date for her much-anticipated debut LP, Dirty Gold, but last month she kicked off her #30Gold series, a month-long series of covers and freestyles over other songs to precede the album. The newest #30Gold installment is the cover of young British pop breakout John Newman's "Love Me Again." You can stream it below, along with covers/freestyles of Lana Del Rey, Miley Cyrus, Macklemore, A$AP Ferg, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Jay Z, and Kanye West.

At age thirteen, my mom knew I wasn't straight
She didn't understand, but she had so much to say
She sat me on the couch, looked me straight in my face
And said you'll burn in hell or probably die of AIDS
It's funny now, but at thirteen it was pain
To be almost sure of who you are and have it ripped away
And I'm sorry if it's too real for some of you to fathom
But hate for who you love is not exactly what you'd imagine
And I guess it was disastrous
Because everything that happened afterwards was just madness
Locked away for two years to keep me on the inside
Because she'd rather see a part of me die than me thrive
And it's tougher when it's something you can't deny
And ignorance teaches us it's something you decide
You're driven by your choices, an optical illusion
Here's to understanding it's not always confusion

Read the rest of the lyrics below. Following that song's release, she did an interview with Fusion TV, saying that if she to label herself (though she'd prefer not to) it'd be "pansexual." "To identify as pansexual to me means to just want love and to want a connection with anyone you can find it with," she said.

That freestyle isn't the only genuinely moving thing Angel Haze has done in recent memory. Last week, she posted a video of herself reading a poem she wrote titled "You Broke My Heart." You can watch that below, and to say the least, you'll feel her pain.

Later this month, Angel Haze will be appearing live in New York (you know, the city she runs) at Webster Hall on November 21 for a Girls Night Out party. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

"The Friday Voodoo line-ups are usually pretty slow, so I came into City Park expecting to have a lot of downtime (which ended up being a good thing because for some reason Voodoo never deems it necessary to label anything, so every stage is always unmarked).... I had some time to kill before the night truly began, so I marveled at all of the extraordinary costumes festival goers brought to the park (Walter White was an obvious favorite).

The night began with Desaparecidos. I'm a huge fan of post-hardcore--I love Fugazi, Minor Threat, Rites of Spring, you name it, I probably at least like it. I've also been to (probably more than) my fair share of post-hardcore shows (getting stuck in an Against Me! mosh pit is arguably the punkest thing I've ever done), so when I say that Desaparecidos's Voodoo performance was the best post-hardcore show I've ever seen, it definitely means something. Conor Oberst definitely brought his best cynical self to the show, spouting political statements and really getting into the music with major head banging." [The Daily Reveille]

Other sets on Voodoo day 1 included Anamanaguchi, Those Darlins and New Orleans's own Preservation Hall Jazz Band, all three of which also had over to our Soundwave stage hosted by the funny Dave Hill and Billy Jones (Soundwave schedule HERE).

headlining set [at Voodoo] started emotionally when guitarist Mike McCready introduced Steve Gleason, the Washington state native who settled in New Orleans after his days with the New Orleans Saints ended. Stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease, the wheelchair-bound Gleason rolled to declare, in his computer-generated voice, "This is my hometown; this is my hometown band." Gleason's presence lingered throughout the show as McCready wore a Team Gleason T-shirt and Eddie Vedder, a wristband. Vedder later dedicated the show and 2006's "Inside Job" to Gleason and his family, and announced that the band let Gleason write the set list -- which led to the inclusion of a quiet "Chloe Dancer" alongside a number of songs from the new Lightning Bolt. [SPIN]

Pearl Jam's full setlist and pictures from the whole day, costumed attendees included, are in this post. Pictures from Day 2 are HERE. More Day 1 below....

In addition to initially announcedRock The Bells lineup (Nas playing Illmatic? Mobb Deep on The Infamous detail? wow), the festival has made some interesting additions like Erykah Badu performing all of Baduism (on select dates), Common performing all of Be (on select dates), Killah Priest performing all of Heavy Mental, Slaughterhouse, and DOOM. More lineup details are below.

The NYC show on 9/3 at Governor's Island gets the Erykah Badu appearance, and tickets are on presale, password is "ILLMATIC". General sale begins Saturday, 6/11, at 10:00 AM.

LA and San Francisco are on sale now, and the only other date, Boston, still doesn't even have a venue announced yet.

The line-up for the ROCK THE BELLS 2011 FESTIVAL SERIES--presented by Boost Mobile in association with GUERILLA UNION and powered by BlackBerry--will feature an array of seminal and up-and-coming hip-hop artists on three stages. Headliners include Ms. Lauryn Hill, Nas,Erykah Baduand Cypress Hill. See the current line-up below and look for more performers to be announced soon.

This year's festival will head to four major North American markets. Kicking off in the Los Angeles-area on August 20 at the San Manuel Amphitheater, ROCK THE BELLS will then head to San Francisco on August 27 at Shoreline Amphitheatre. The festival moves to the east coast for a show in New York on September 3 at Governor's Island (co-promoted with Bowery Presents, Highline, Mad Dog Presents) before wrapping in [a TBA venue in] Boston on September 10.

ROCK THE BELLS featured a number of headliners performing their most influential albums in their entirety for the first time in the history of hip-hop entertainment last summer. The tradition continues this year with Ms. Lauryn Hill performing her landmark, multi-platinum selling, multi-GRAMMY winning album The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill and Nas performing his breakthrough debut album Illmatic with special guests AZ, Pete Rock and DJ Premier. Nas says about performing Illmatic this summer, "For years people have been asking me to do Illmatic in so many ways, from stage plays to movies to books, but the time wasn't right. Where music is going now, the time is right. This will be my biggest production and it only makes sense to do it on the best rap tour which also happens to be a brand I've built and am a partner in. Can't wait to kill it with my comrades AZ, Premo & Pete Rock!"

Full album sets can also be expected from: Cypress Hill performing their 1993 multi-platinum album Black Sunday, featuring modern rock radio mainstay "Insane In The Membrane"; Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star performing their 1998 self-titled debut album;Raekwon & Ghostface teaming up for critically acclaimed, platinum selling Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and more.

"I am excited that this year's Rock The Bells will continue its rich history and tradition by presenting the best and most ambitious festival programming in Hip Hop," says festival co-founder and Guerilla Union head Chang Weisberg. "The bar has been set high and this year's line-up will certainly stake its claim. With ten of the biggest records in the history of the genre and the freshest new talent bubbling from the underground, this summer's Rock The Bells is another dream come true."

ROCK THE BELLS will feature three main stages this year. The two returning stages are the ROCK THE BELLS STAGE and the PAID DUES STAGE, which will feature independent hip-hop acts that performed at the Paid Dues Festival this past April in San Bernardino and new artists-on-the-rise. Paid Dues Festival creator Murs says, "I am excited that I once again have the privilege of hosting the Paid Dues Stage. We will have the honor of showcasing some of the best talent in independent hip hop as part of the worlds largest and longest running hip hop festival... the Paid Dues stage is gonna be the one to watch this year."

The 36 CHAMBERS STAGE is a new addition to the festival and will primarily feature members of the Wu-Tang Clan as well as artists selected by stage curator and Wu-Tang Clan mainstay RZA. A fourth stage that will also be added to most markets is the GRINDTIME NOW STAGE, which will feature battle-style performances.

The Guerilla Union pre-sale for the ROCK THE BELLS 2011 FESTIVAL SERIES will go from June 3 at 10am PST - 10pm PST. The general on-sale starts on June 4.

The lineup was announced last night at a show at House of Blues in LA. Mobb Deep, Souls of Mischief and Cypress Hill all played and pictures to prove it are in this post. More of them below.

The Outside Lands Festival, which runs from 8/12 - 8/14 in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, released their 2011 lineup in April (and now it's May, so consider this a catch up post). Tickets are on sale.

This year's fest will appearances from The Shins, Muse, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys, Phish (two sets), !!!, Erykah Badu, Big Audio Dynamite (who played Coachella and are also playing Lollapalooza), Girl Talk and many more. The full lineup is below.